Combined shipping and display carton



April 15, 1958 R. E. PAIGE COMBINED SHIPPING AND DISPLAY CARTON 2Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 23, 1955 UPPER SECTION 43 LOWER SECTION 44UPPER SECTION 43 TOP 40 LEFT SIDE l4 FRONT FLAP RIGHT SIDE I8 W FRONT l6PARTITION SECTION 35 LONGITUDINAL FLAP 22 BOTTOM SEC TIO N 34 II II E gII PARTITION SECTION LONGITUDINAL FLAP 22 TRANSVERSE FLAP 2| TRANSVERSEFLAP 2| IN VEN TOR.

RICHARD E. PAIG E ATTORNEY A ril 15, 1958 Filed June 23, 1955 R. E.PAIGE COMBINED SHIPPING AND DISPLAY CARTON max +1.5 RIGHT SIDE I8 Top 40v r--"- 25" H H H BACK l2 n II II TOP-4O H l|"' u II N H II 4e BOTTOMSECTION R'GHT 3 Ld 35 9 3o LEFT If) 1- sloc" Li J -2s FR T IS/ f ROW 26ON now 2'? Fl 5 TOP 40 4| I 3 t p N 43 LEFT SIDE l4 20 5 45 4e 0-TRANSVERSE FLAP 2: PAHHI ION A SEgglON FRONT BACK 35 O 0 r Q 37 (s 2.424 2 4 I I I I I K 20 34' so 23 a4 20 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 UPPER SECTION 43LOWER SECTION 44 RICHARD E PAIGE IIIIIIIIIII .INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY United. States Patent COMBINED SHIPPING AND DISPLAY CARTONRichard Eaton Paige, New York, N. Y., assignor to Brown-FormanDistillers Corporation, Louisville, Ky., a corporation of DelawareApplication June 23, 1955, Serial No. 517,443

2 Claims. (Cl. 206-4529) This invention relates to a combined shippingand display carton of the type normally composed of cardboard. Inpreparing for and handling bottled case goods, for example, it iscustomary for the carton manufacturer to supply the bottle manufacturerwith case and fractional case cartons all in knockdown form. The bottlemanufacturer assembles say four of the six bottle fractional casecartons within a twenty-four bottle case carton, fills the assembly withits regular quota of twenty-four empty bottles, closes the resultingpackage and ships it to the bottled goods manufacturer. The latter opensthe package, removes the bottles, cleans, sterilizes, fills, labels andstamps them, if necessary, and finally refills the package, closes itand then ships it to the distributor who is then in a position todeliver to his customers either full or fractional cases.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide a novel,fractional case carton which enables the practice of preparing for andhandling the goods down through the distributor and retailer to besubstantially improved.

Another important object is to provide a novel, fractional case cartonwhich may substantially reduce the handling costs from the bottlemanufacturer down to the retailer and which provides the retailer withan effective display for such goods.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a fractionalcase carton with a novel bottom structure which facilitates the assemblyof the original blank into a fractional case carton of novel form,which, when assembled, not only forms the bottom of the carton but alsosubdivides the interior of the carton into bottle compartments andwhich, packed within a full case carton, meets all shippingrequirements.

Another important object of this invention is to provide a fractionalcase carton with a novel top structure which may be readily moved duringinitial assembly to an out-of-the-way position where it does notobstruct access to the bottle compartments and which may be left in suchposition by all parties down to the distributor so as to facilitate allnecessary bottle packing and unpacking operations up to that time andwhich may thereafter be readily moved to closed or display positions, asdesired.

Another important object of this invention is to provide an inexpensivefractional case carton having a novel bottom structure which is easy toassembly to form the bottom and interior compartments of the carton anda novel top structure which is readily movable to any of three positionscomprising a closed position, an open extended display position, and anopen retracted out-ofthe-way position.

An embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a plan view of scored cardboard blank;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a partly assembled carton;

2,830,697 Patented Apr. 15, 1958 Figure 3 is a side elevation of theassembled carton with its top structure in the out-of-the-way, cartonpacking and unpacking or bottle processing position;

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the carton in Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a vertical section, extending from front to rearlongitudinally through the carton when it is in its closed position,this section looking toward the central partition;

Figure 6 is a vertical section, extending transversely from side to sidetransversely through the carton when it is in its display position, thissection looking in the direction of the display face; and

Figure 7 is a more or less schematic view illustrating the relationshipbetween two fractional case cartons packed in a full case carton withtheir top structures in their out-of-the-way positions, the spacing ofthe elements in this view being exaggerated for the sake of clarity.

My invention is particularly suited for but not necessarily limited toapplication to fractional case cartons. The embodiment used toillustrate my invention comprises: a box body open at bottom and top; anovel bottom structure composed of two pairs of opposed flapscooperating not only to form the bottom but also to partition theinterior of the box into bottle receiving compartments; a novel topclosure composed of a top wall and a front flap hinged together formovement to various positions including an open processing position, aclosed position and an open display position; and means to latch or lockit in the display position.

BOX BODY The blank and the assembled box made therefrom are hereinaftergenerally designated by the numerals l0 and 11 respectively. The body ofthe box 11, as can be readily seen from the blank 10 of Fig. 1, includesback Wall 12 hinged at 13 to left side wall 14 which is hinged at 15 tofront wall 16 which is hinged at 17 to right side wall 18. The adjacentedges 19a and 19b of the back 12 and the right side wall 18 are to betaped or otherwise secured together.

BOTTOM STRUCTURE Each vertical wall has a bottom flap hinged at 2|] toits lower edge, opposed bottom flaps of either pair designated 21 or 22being identical in structure and adjacent flaps 21 and 22 beingdifferent in structure. For clarity, the bottom flaps of one pair ofopposed vertical walls are called transverse flaps 21 to distinguishthem from the bottom flaps of the other pair of opposed vertical wallswhich are called longitudinal flaps 22.

Each flap, whether transverse or longitudinal, contains a horizontalbottom section hinged at 23 to a vertical partition-forming section. Thepartition-forming section of one pair of flaps divides the interior ofthe box into two rows, while the partition-forming section of the otherpair of flaps subdivides each row into either two or threebottle-forming compartments. While the longitudinal" flaps may be placedon the side walls and designed to form rows with the transverse" flapsplaced on the front and rear walls and designed to subdivide rows, thereverse arrangement is used to illustrate the present invention and istherefore described hereinafter.

Transverse flaps Accordingly, it is noted that each side wall has,hinged to its lower edge at 20, a transverse flap 21 which contains ahinge 23 connecting its bottom section 24 to its partition section 25.The bottom section 24 extends from said lower edge hinge 20 partwayacross the bottom where it terminates in a hinged edge 23 which lies inabutting relationship with the corresponding hinged edge 23 of thebottom section 24 of the other transverse flap of the same pair. Thepartition section 25 extends from the abutting hinged edge 23 of itsbottom section 24 upwardly into the box alongside the partition section25 of the other transverse flap of the same pair.

These adjacent face-to-face partition sections 25 cooperate to form onepartition of double thickness extending from the front to the back ofthe box. As particularly indicated in Fig. 4, this one partition ofdouble thickness divides the interior of the box into two equallongitudinal rows 26 and 27, each of which extend from the front to theback of the box. Each row is intended to receive two or more bottles.

If each row is designed for two bottles, each transverse flap 21 will bedivided into a front section and a back section, by a single slot 28(shown in dotted lines) extending transversely across the bottom section24 of the flap from its side wail hinge to its partition hinge 23 andthen continuing partially across its vertical partition section 25. Thisdotted slot 28 will divide the bottom section into equal front and backparts or halves.

Where, as here, three bottles are desired in each row, each flap 21 isslotted twice at 30 to divide it into thirds. Each transverselyextending slot 30, on one transverse flap 21, thus extends horizontallyhalf-way across the bottom section 24 of the assembled box and thenextends vertically part way across the partition section 25. Thehorizontal portion of the transverse slot 30 on one transverse fiapcooperates with the horizontal portions of the corresponding transverseslot 30 on the other transverse flap 21 to provide one continuoustransverse slot extending horizontally all the way from one side wall tothe other. The vertical portions of slots 30 similarly cooperate to forma vertical slot 30 extending partway across (or through the lower halfof) the vertical partition sections of the transverse flaps 21. Thesetransverse slots are for the purpose of receiving partitions from thelongitudinal flaps 22, which are to be hereinafter described.

Longitudinal flaps Each longitudinal" fiap 22 contains a bottom section34 and a partition section 35. The bottom section 34 extends from thelower edge hinge 20 (of its front or rear wall) partway across thebottom where it terminates in an edge 23 hinged to the partition section35. The partition section 35 extends upwardly through correspondingtransverse slots 30, in both of said side wall flaps 21,

to separate two adjacent bottle spaces in each row, one

from the other.

For a two bottle per row arrangement, these partition sections 35 willproject upwardly through the cooperating dotted slots 28, in each of theside wall flaps 21, so as to extend vertically within the box infaceto-face relationship.

Where, as here, three bottles per row are preferred, the bottom section34 of each longitudinal flap 22 will extend one-third (forwardly orrearwardly) across the bottom area so as to terminate at a point spaced,from the corresponding edge of the corresponding bottom section 34 ofthe opposed flap 22, a distance equal to the remaining third of thebottom area. Necessarily the partition sections 35 of these opposedflaps 22 will also be spaced at equal one-third distances so as todivide the interior of the box into thirds. Each partition 35 in thiscase, therefore, extends through a different pair of transverselyaligned Transverse slots 30 in the partitions 25 of the transverse flaps21. In order to permit the longitudinal partitions 35, of thelongitudinal flaps 22, to extend to a higher elevation within the box,each longitudinal flap 22 is slotted at 36 from the upper edge of itspartition section 35 downwardly for a distance equal to the desiredextension.

Assembled bottom With this arrangement, it will be appreciated that thebottom of the box, when assembled, has two layers of flap cardboardthroughout its entire extent where a two bottle per row arrangement isemployed. With a three bottle per row arrangement, two-thirds of thebottom area will have double thickness while the central one-thirdsection will be of single cardboard thickness.

In order to facilitate the assembly of the box, each longitudinal flap22 is scored across its partition section 35 along a fold line 37 whichfacilitates the entry of the free end of the longitudinal (front andrear wall) flaps 22 into the transverse slots 30 of the transverse orside wall flaps 21 during assembly.

TOP STRUCTURE The top structure comprises: a top wall hinged at 39 tothe upper end of the back wall 12; and a front flap 42 hinged at 41 tothe forward end of the top wall 40.

Top wall The top wall 40 is hinged at 39 to the back wall for movementto any of three positions comprising: (a) the open out-of-the-way orprocessing position of Figs. 3, 4, and 7, in which it extends verticallydownward along the outer face of the back wall 12 to a point short ofthe bottom thereof; (b) the closed position of Fig. 5, in which itextends horizontally forward over the top opening; and (c) the opendisplay position Figs. 2 and 6, in which it projects vertically upwardfrom the rear or back wall as an extension thereof.

Front flap The front flap 42 is hinged at 41 to the top wall 40 so that,when that wall is moved to its different positions, the flap may be madeto extend as follows: (a) in the open processing position of Figs. 3, 4,and 7, downwardly along the lower portion of the outer face of the backwall and thence under the outer face of the bottom wall; (1)) in theclosed position of Fig. 5, downwardly along the inner face of the frontwall; and (c) in the open display position of Figs. 2 and 6. downwardlyalong the inner face of the top wall.

The front flap 42 has upper and lower sections 43 and 44 pivotallyconnected together through a pair of parallel and adjacent hinges 45 and46. In the open processing position, the upper section 43 of the frontflap 42 cooperates with the entire top wall 40 in forming a wall of thesame height as the back wall 12 so that the lower section 44 of thefront flap 42 may be manipulated or folded under the outer bottom faceof the bottom wall. In the closed position, the entire front flap isused as a second front wall, the upper section 43 bridging the spacebetween the top of the box and the upper edge of the front wall 16. Inthe display position, the entire front flap 42 is used as a displaywall.

DISPLAY POSITION LOCK To lock the front flap 42 in its display position,the lower end of its lower section 44 cooperates with the upper part ofback wall 12 to provide a tongue and slot connection therebetween. Thusthe flap has a tab 47 at the lower free end of its lower section 44while the back wall 12 is slitted along a path 48 of inverted U- shapein outline to provide an upwardly directed tab 49. When tab 49 is swungor pushed slightly inward, it forms a slot into which the flap tab 47can be directed. Once the tab 47 is slipped into the slot behind tab 49,it normally will be held there until manually pulled out.

HANDLING OPERATION In the use of this invention, a full-case carton isto be loaded with say four quarter-case cartons; hence the cartonmanufacturer, for each full-case carton ordered,

will send the bottle manufacturer one full-case carton 51 and fourquarter-case cartons 11.

The bottle manufacturer first assembles the full-case cartons andquarter-case cartons into open top containers. folds the top wall 40 andfront flap 42 around the outer faces of the back and bottom walls of thequarter-case cartons 11 into the out-ofthe-way processing position and,keeping them in such position, loads them into the open top carton 51 inany desired arrangement such as that indicated in Figure 7. Obviously,it is now an easy and simple matter to load each carton 51 withtwentyfour bottles, by placing one bottle into each of the sixunobstructed spaces provided in each open quarter-case carton 11. When acardboard sheet 50 is placed over the open top quarter-case cartons andwhen the full-case carton 51 is closed at its top 52, the resultingpackage will meet all shipping requirements. Accordingly, the bottlemanufacturer can ship the package in that condition to a distillery, forexample.

At the distillery, the full-case carton 51 is opened to expose the openends of the quarter-case cartons 11, the bottles are removed,sterilized. filled, closed, labeled, and stamped. Now they can berepacked with the quartercase cartons still in the processing position.Once again, when the quarter-case cartons 11 are covered by a cardboardsheet 50 and the full-case carton 51 closed at 52, the resulting packagewill meet all shipping requirements and is therefore ready to be shippedto the distributor.

Upon receipt by the distributor, he can either deliver a full case to adealer or open the full case and remove one or more quarter-case cartonsfor delivery to the dealer. The distributor, thereafter, closes eachquartercase carton and delivers it in a closed condition to the dealer.The dealer may new store all full-case or quartercase cartons exceptthose quarter-case cartons which are to be put on display. Each suchcarton may be placed in the position where it is to be displayed and itstop wall and front flap may thereupon be moved to the display positionof Figs. 2 and 6. As bottles are sold from that quarter-case carton, itmay be refilled so as to maintain it as a display carton. On the otherhand, when emptied, it can be replaced by another quarter-case carton.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. An improved cardboard box comprising: a box body having a topopening, four vertical walls forming the opposed side walls and opposedfront and back walls and a bottom wall; a top wall hinged to the upperedge of the back wall; and a front flap hinged to the front edge of thetop wall and composed of upper and lower sections, the upper sectionextending between the top wall and the lower section and being hinged toboth; the combined length of said top wall plus said upper section beingequal to the height of said back wall; said top wall and front flapbeing movable between first, second and third positions, the first beinga closed position wherein the top Wall extends horizontally forward overthe top opening of the box and the flap extends downwardly along theinner face of the front wall, the second being an open out-of-the-wayprocessing position wherein the top wall extends vertically downwardalong the outer face of the back wall to a point short of the bottomthereof and the front flap extends from the top Wall downwardly alongthe remaining lower portion of the outer face of the back wall to thebottom thereof and thence forwardly under the outer face of the bottomwall, and the third being an open display position in which the top wallprojects vertically upward from the back wall as an extension thereofand the front flap extends downwardly along the inner face of the topwall.

2. The structure of claim 1 wherein: the lower end of the front flap andthe upper part of the back wall cooperate to provide a tongue and slotconnection therebetween to hold the top wall and front flap in thedisplay position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,879,105 Corigliano Sept. 27, 1932 2,022,721 Hompe Dec. 3, 19352,212,630 Anderson Aug. 27, 1940 2,335,366 Stearn Nov. 30, 19432,548,001 Butterfill Apr. 10, 1951 2,599,800 Wolfe June 10, 19522,693,308 Giroux et al. Nov. 2, 1954

